DEPUTY LIQUOR AIDE BECOMES CICERO CHIEF

For the first time since its incorporation more than 125 years ago, Cicero's ship of state has a woman at its helm.

In a surprise move, Betty Loren-Maltese, the town's deputy liquor commissioner, was named to succeed deceased President Henry Klosak.

Loren-Maltese, 43, was sworn in as town president Tuesday just minutes after being named to the town board. Her selection as trustee and then president followed a six-minute closed door session of the board. There was no debate, discussion or dissent. Selection of an interim president had to come from among the Cicero Town Board.

Loren-Maltese said she will seek the Republican nomination to run for president in April. The job pays $42,100 annually.

A GOP primary that would have pitted Cicero firefighter Lewis Baird against the deceased Klosak evaporated Monday when Baird, without explanation, withdrew from the ballot. Klosak's death and Baird's withdrawal effectively cancels the GOP primary, according to Town Clerk Alice Darda.

Baird said that having failed to obtain the endorsement of party leaders, he decided to drop out in order to avoid the cost and pain of a potentially bitter primary. He said he would offer himself to the party as a candidate for the post when it seeks to fill the nomination prior to the April election.

Loren-Maltese is the wife of Cicero Town Assessor Frank Maltese, who recently pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in a mob-related case.

Maltese, who is reputed to be ailing, was on hand Tuesday to congratulate his wife.

Loren-Maltese is currently on the ballot to run in April in an attempt to succeed her husband as assessor. She would quit that race if she gets the party's nomination for town president.

The 61-year-old Maltese continues to hold his $32,200-a-year post despite having pleaded guilty last October to federal conspiracy charges involving his role in a business run by the Ernest Rocco Infelice crime family.

He faces a maximum sentence of 5 years and a fine of up to $250,000 after pleading guilty to federal charges of gambling conspiracy.

He was among a large group of Infelice associates indicted in February, 1990.

Both Loren-Maltese and her husband were close friends and associates of Klosak.

She was one of Klosak's first appointments after he took office in May, 1980.

Loren-Maltese, a longtime GOP precinct captain, has been Cicero's deputy liquor commissioner since 1986. Other town posts she has held over the past 13 years include work as an assistant to Klosak and as executive director of the Cicero Housing Authority.

In matters of business and politics, she said she operates independent of her husband.

The appointment Tuesday came as part of a measured and carefully orchestrated series of moves by the town board that included the resignation of trustee Joseph DeChicio and, minutes later, his appointment as supervisor.

DeChicio's new spot, for which he is seeking election in April, opened with the resignation Tuesday of Town Supervisor Russell Spirek, who is ill.